Hi Josh, I too am wondering about paddle length. I'm finding that I am quite happy paddling real vertical when I want to make speed. I like the feel of the paddle tight against the hull (not rubbing but really close.) When I get vertical, either my bottom hand drags along the deck or dips in the water or my off-side hand is at eye level or higher, which feels too high. One solution is to hold the paddle closer to the middle, but then the paddle spends a lot of time in the catch and release phases. When I move my hands closer the "feel" of the stroke is better, but I don't think it's as efficient because the paddle is too deep and there's too much leverage (higher gearing.) And the drip rings are submerged, which introduces water to the cockpit. There might be other issues when paddling in shallow creeks with a short paddle and I can't reach the water with a flat stroke. Also, sweep strokes and rolls might have less purchase with a shorter paddle, but this effect would likely be marginal. Perhaps I will carry paddles of two different lengths, since I believe in carrying a spare anyway. Then, if I'm paddling into the wind and chop and want to really dig in, I'll choose the shorter paddle, and when appropriate the longer one. Here's something else I've noticed. I have a Werner with dihedral and a Pacific Designs with a one-dimension curve "spoon" shape. When I paddle at less than "full power" they feel roughly the same, the release on the Werner being a little bit better. But when I want to put some oomph into the power phase, the dihedral of the Werner seems to dump the water and allow the paddle to pass thru the water while the Pacific Designs feels like it grabs the water and lets me pull against it more solidly. >>" 45 degree feather;' Regarding 45 degrees, I read somewhere that anything less than 60 degrees tends to fly around when you paddle into much wind. Perhaps others can comment. I'm just beginning to paddle, so I could be way off on all this, and welcome any input from the sages on the list. No point learning bad habits! Cheers, Carey *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Mon Sep 22 2003 - 06:44:49 PDT
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